Building a Newsletter Email List

Advice from Kelly Oliver

I’m delighted to welcome Kelly Oliver, the award-winning and bestselling author of four mystery series: The Jessica James Mysteries (contemporary suspense); The Pet Detective Mysteries (middle grade); The Fiona Figg Mysteries (historical cozies); and her new series The Detection Club Mysteries (historical mystery). In three years, she built her newsletter list up to 300K and actively markets both her indie and traditionally published books.

In this guest post, Kelly answers questions about how to start, promote, and maximize the reach of your newsletter.

How do I begin the process of building my email list?

So, the first thing you need is an author website. Be sure that you have a popup on every page asking visitors to sign up for your newsletter. Next, offer an incentive for signup: a short story, a novella, a first novel in a series, a collection of first chapters, an audiobook, etc. Readers love free stuff. And giving them something when they sign up is the best way to grow your mailing list. Offering a freebie to join your list is called offering a lead magnet. This is how you attract folks to sign up.

What advantages do newsletters have over other forms of promotion?

Having your own email list is gold. When you advertise on Amazon, Facebook, Bookbub, etc, you can’t collect email addresses. Those platforms can be great for advertising, but whatever fluctuations and changes they make, you own your newsletter email list. It won’t be affected by the weirdness of Facebook or Amazon’s ever-changing policies and categories.

Kelly, you have more than 300,000 readers on your email list. What’s the secret to that kind of growth?

You’ll want to promote your newsletter and lead magnet freebie on your social media. You may want to consider newsletter swaps with other authors where you can offer your freebie in exchange for signups. Story Origin is one place to find newsletter swaps. Another way is just to ask your author friends if they want to do a newsletter swap. This way you can cross-pollinate your mailing lists.

What elements go into a successful newsletter?

Make your newsletters fun. Give readers extra content such as personal stories, short stories, behind-the-scenes info, or freebies. Don’t just talk about your books and book sales. Tell readers about yourself. Send them pictures of your pets, or recipes, or fictional interviews with your characters. Ask them questions. I love it when readers respond to my newsletters. It’s fun!

Thanks for sharing your expertise with us!

Kelly’s first novel in her new Detection Club Mystery series is The Case of the Christie Conspiracy.

Coming soon: The Case of the Body on the Orient Express.

You can reach Kelly at kelly@kellyoliverbooks.com or visit her website at www.kellyoliverbooks.com

Kelly is the immediate Past President of Sisters in Crime and incoming programming coordinator for SinC Guppies. She is Distinguished Emerita Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.

Lori Robbins

Lori Robbins is the Amazon bestselling author of the On Pointe and Master Class mystery series and a contributor to The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers Cookbook. She won two Silver Falchions, the Indie Award for Best Mystery, and second place in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Mystery and Suspense. Her short stories include “Leading Ladies” which received an Honorable Mention in the 2022 Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology. A former dancer, Lori performed with Ballet Hispanico and the St. Louis Ballet, but it was her commercial work, for Pavlova Perfume and Macy’s, that paid the bills. After ten very lean years onstage she became an English teacher and now writes full-time. Lori is a co-president of the New York/ Tristate Sisters in Crime and an active member of MWA.
Her experiences as a dancer, teacher, writer, and mother of six have made her an expert in the homicidal tendencies everyday life inspires.

You can find her at lorirobbins.com

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